Antoni Porowski

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Antoni Porowski
Porowski in June 2018
Born
Antoni Janusz Porowski

(1984-03-14) March 14, 1984 (age 40)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Education
Occupations
  • Television personality
  • actor
  • model
  • author
Years active2008–present
Websiteantoniporowski.com

Antoni Janusz Porowski (born March 14, 1984)[1] is a Canadian television personality, cook, actor, model, and author. He is the food and wine expert on the Netflix series Queer Eye (2018–present).

Early life[edit]

Porowski was born in Montreal, Quebec, to Polish parents after they immigrated to Canada with his two older sisters. His father is a physician.[2] He grew up speaking Polish, English and French.[2] He and his parents moved to Glade Springs, West Virginia, when he was twelve years old; he resided between there and in Montreal throughout his high school years before returning to Montreal to complete his post-secondary education at Marianopolis College.[3]

After graduating from Concordia University with a bachelor's degree in psychology, Porowski moved to New York City to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, from which he graduated in 2011.[2][4][5][6] He taught himself to cook as a college student.[7][8]

Career[edit]

Upon moving to New York City, Porowski began auditioning for various acting roles. He has stated that his Polish last name made it difficult for him to find work, which at the time made him consider anglicizing his last name.[2] He has landed roles in movies such as Elliot Loves (2012), Daddy's Boy (2016), The Pretenders (2018), and as the lead officer in a 2014 episode of TV series The Blacklist.[9] Porowski was also featured in the 2015 short docudrama about the Vinnytsia massacre, To My Father, as Adam Bandrowski.[10] The short film was part of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner.

In the meantime, he worked in food service to cover his rent, first working as a busboy at a family-run Polish restaurant.[5] He worked his way up in the restaurant industry, working as a waiter and sommelier, eventually managing the sushi restaurant BondSt.[2][11]

In December 2017, it was announced that Porowski was hired as the food and wine expert in the Netflix revival of Queer Eye, which began airing in February 2018.[12]

In April 2018, Porowski signed a deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for his first cookbook, released in Spring 2019.[13] In June 2018, he announced that he would be opening The Village Den, a fast-casual restaurant in New York City's West Village.[11] Additionally, Porowski deals vintage furniture.[14]

On September 10, 2018, Porowski alongside co-hosts of Queer Eye received an Emmy for Outstanding Structured Reality Program.[15]

Porowski was featured in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video, released on June 17, 2019.[16]

In November 2019, he was named Sexiest Reality Star by People magazine.[17]

In June 2021, Porowski announced he is part of the new Equaversity Foundation, established to organize international fundraising to support the LGBT+ community in Poland.[18]

Personal life[edit]

Porowski once lived in the same neighborhood of Brooklyn as Ted Allen, the original Queer Eye food and wine expert and current host of Food Network cooking competition Chopped. The two became friends, and for a time Porowski worked for Allen and his husband, designer Barry Rice, as their assistant, frequently cooking for the couple and helping them put together events and catering in their home.[3][9]

Porowski states that his sexuality is "a little more fluid along the spectrum" and prefers not to label himself.[19] He dated graphic artist Joey Krietemeyer for more than seven years before announcing their split in October 2018.[20]

In 2019, Porowski and his Queer Eye costar Jonathan Van Ness set up a joint Instagram account, and posted seemingly romantic photographs. They later clarified that it was in jest.[21]

In 2019, Porowski began dating Manhattan advertising executive Kevin Harrington.[22] Porowski and Harrington got engaged in 2022 and lived in New York City.[23] The couple split in 2023, ending their engagement.[24]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Antoni in the Kitchen (2019)
  • Antoni: Let's Do Dinner (2021)

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2008 The Diary Eric Short film
2011 The Apartment Stranger Short film
2012 Elliot Loves Elliot's Father
2013 Withdrawal Louis Short film
2015 To My Father Adam Bandrowski Short film
2016 Daddy's Boy Christian
Blood Surf Simon
2018 The Pretenders Antoni
Horror Time Jacob
2023 Spoiler Alert Sebastian

Television and web[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Blue Mountain State Lacrosse Player Episode: "LAX"
2014 The Blacklist Lead Officer Episode: "Monarch Douglas Bank"
2018–present Queer Eye Himself Series regular, 47 episodes
2018 Nailed It! Himself – guest judge Episode: "Bonus: 3,2,1...Ya Not Done!!"
Don't Watch This Himself Episode: "Antoni Psycho"
2019 Lip Sync Battle Himself Season 5, Episode 1
Big Mouth Himself Season 3
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen Himself Episode: "How Did Antoni Porowski And His 'Flipping Out' Beau Meet?"
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Himself Episode: "Celebrating Food as a Love Language with Antoni in the Kitchen"
2020 Martha Knows Best Himself Episode: "Vegetable Garden"[25]
2022 Queen Antoine 2 episodes[26]
Easy Bake Battle: The Home Cooking Competition Himself Host

Music videos[edit]

Year Song Artist
2018 "This Is Me (The Reimagined Remix)" Keala Settle, Kesha, & Missy Elliott
2019 "You Need to Calm Down Taylor Swift

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Chandra, Jessica. "Just 16 Beautiful Pictures Of Antoni Porowski From 'Queer Eye'". Elle. Elle Magazine. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Wertheim, Bonnie (March 6, 2018). "Antoni Porowski Can Cook". The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Carley, Brennan (February 26, 2018). "Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski Knows You're Thinking About Him". GQ. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  4. ^ Keogh, Joey (October 8, 2018). "The untold truth of Antoni Porowski". TheList.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Hall, Gerrad (March 1, 2018). "Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski defends his credentials, T-shirt choices, and love of avocados". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  6. ^ Braxton, Conrad. "Antoni Porowski Answers 5 Burning Questions – Men's Variety". mensvariety.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  7. ^ Sachs, Kevin (March 2, 2019). "Feast Your Eyes: Volume II – Antoni's Recipes in Queer Eye Season 3". DINE Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  8. ^ Sondé, Kari (January 22, 2018). "Queer Eye Is Back – Meet The Show's New Food Expert". Grub Street. New York Media. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Vargas, Alani (February 6, 2018). "Who's Antoni Porowski from Queer Eye? The Food Expert has a Personal Connection to the Original Show". Bustle. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  10. ^ ""To My Father" a docudrama about the Vinca massacre by Montreal filmmakers". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. September 23, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
  11. ^ a b 92nd Street Y (June 2, 2018), Netflix's Queer Eye in Conversation, retrieved June 23, 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Starkey, Adam (February 9, 2018). "Netflix's Queer Eye: Who are the new Fab Five". Metro. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  13. ^ "Exclusive: 'Queer Eye' breakout Antoni Porowski lands cookbook deal". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
  14. ^ Musiwa, Elaine (May 21, 2015). "Rich Timber and Warm Metals Transform a Brooklyn Apartment". Houzz. Retrieved March 10, 2018. Porowski is an actor, a chef and a vintage-furniture dealer
  15. ^ "'Queer Eye' Reboot Wins Top Reality Show Emmy". HuffPost. September 10, 2018.
  16. ^ TaylorSwiftVEVO (June 1, 2019), Taylor Swift – You Need To Calm Down, retrieved June 17, 2019
  17. ^ "People Magazine's Readers Pick 'Queer Eye' Star Antoni Porowski as Sexiest Reality Star of 2019". EDGE Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  18. ^ "Equaversity Poland". equaversity.org. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  19. ^ West, Amy (April 24, 2018). "Queer Eye star Antoni Porowski says his sexuality is fluid". Pink News. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  20. ^ Hautman, Nicholas (October 25, 2018). "'Queer Eye' Star Antoni Porowski and Boyfriend Joey Krietemeyer Split After 7 Years". Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  21. ^ Law, Angela (July 5, 2019). "Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness' Joke Couple Instagram Account Just Won the Internet. He is currently dating Kevin Harrington". Popsugar.co.uk. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  22. ^ "New Guy! Antoni Porowski is Dating Ad Exec Kevin Harrington". December 19, 2019.
  23. ^ "Who is Antoni Porowski's Fiancé? All About Kevin Harrington".
  24. ^ DeBianchi, Antonia (November 22, 2023). "Antoni Porowski and Kevin Harrington Split and End Their Engagement After 4 Years of Dating (Exclusive)". People.
  25. ^ "HGTV,"Vegetable Garden"".
  26. ^ "Queen (TV Mini Series 2022) - IMDb". IMDB. Retrieved August 20, 2022.

External links[edit]